Creating Retro Sun Rays in FireWorks

How to build Retro Sun Rays in FireWorks

I tried to use the Filter/Distort/Polar filter using evenly spaced bar in a square but the output was uneven and the ability to use the gradient tool was awkward. So I decided to start from scratch not knowing how others have done it before me. The effect I was trying to achieve was the pictures on the old fruit and vegtable cases that the farms used to label their product. Here is the final version from the fruits of my labor.

Now we are not going to build the entire graphic, just the rays used in the background.

To start I figured the area that I needed and made the canvas with the dimensions of, height 196px and width 229px. Using the ellipse tool I drew a circle with the dimensions height 229px and width 229px and placed it with the top meeting the top of my box and the sides touching the sides of my box. Here is an example.

It is not important that it is a perfect square or a perfect circle as this is just a guide to place the wedges that create the rays. Now lets make the wedge using the pen tool. Three point is all you need. Here is where the circle is used. Lets make the wedge using the pen tool. Three point is all you need and here is an example of the first one.

Using the white pointer tool, select the top corner of the wedge and drag it to the edge of the circle. Using the pen to start making as many wedges as you need placing the wide part at the top and the skinny part at the center of the bottom of the box. Once you have drawn all the wedges you need, it should look like this.

Now that we have all the wedges we need and they are place where you want them, we need to apply the gradient tool. We can do this as a batch by selecting all of the wedges. Lets apply the gradient. Choose the paint bucket and hold it down until the menu is displayed. It looks like this.

Select Gradient. Now we need to adjust each ray. Using the white pointer, select a wedge. Now select the black pointer and you will see a black line with a dot on top and a square on the bottom. I like to think of the the dot as the sun and the square as the ground. With the black pointer grab the dot and drag it to the edge of the circle just below the top of the wedge and drag the square to the bottom of the wedge. Here is an example.

Once you have done this for all of your wedges you can hide or delete your guide circle.

You should have something that now looks like this.

Now you have a beautiful Retro Sun Ray background. I hope this helps your project!